A Day Out, With The Owl Familia:
Let's Get This Ball Rolling
Like Lilith had said, Luz had bounced back to her usual self by time the group reached the park. In fact, the "knocked-down" human was literally bouncing in place as the group waited in line to get their tickets.
It was clear to everyone that the human-realm-born witch was super excited to be here. Her witch mother on the other hand…
"...You sure this place is safe for the kids?" Eda mumbled uncertainty.
Lilith let out a tired sigh as she moved forward with the line. "For the last time, Edalyn, this isn't like the carnival you went to. There are no shifty or questionable sorts here. And I should know, I checked this place thoroughly before deciding this is where I would like to spend the day with my daughter."
Ed cocked an eyebrow at this, but Lilith didn't let her younger sister get a word in, as she was next in line.
"I would like an all-day family pass for four, please," the former head asked politely.
The booth operator, a familiar centaur with his face on his mouth nodded, and began to make the pass.
"That will be 69 snails," the creature informed the group, and Lilith nodded.
The Historian paid the fee and handed one of the card-like passes to Eda, and the two took their children into the park itself. Eda and Lilith put on their bracelets that will serve as children passes, as they wait for the others.
Once everyone was ready, the large group was in front of the park's map deciding on what to do first.
"Roller Ghoster, Roller Ghoster!" Willow chanted gleefully.
Harvey couldn't help but chuckle as he picked up the current little girl.
"Maybe before we go, my little bub," he replied joyfully. "Remember, those kinds of rides make your tummy go flip-flap."
Willow looked at her dad with a cute pout, but she was a daddy's girl and would listen to him…for now.
Eda frowned as she looked at the sitemap; it had been close to 25 years since her last visit and she was disappointed that not a lot had changed. There were a few new rides and other stuff, but most of the things were stuff she had seen before.
She heard a soft gasp and looked down at her kid. Luz's eyes were sparkling as she looked at something near the game area of the park.
"lhat that?" she asked eagerily, pointing to the place on the map.
Eda followed her daughter's finger and felt a little nostalgic when she saw what her kid wanted to do.
"Ah, the scab ball game, now that takes me back," Eda said with a nostalgic smile.
Lilith didn't share her sister's feeling and let out a noticeable groan. Eda heard this and gave her older sis a competitive smile.
"What's the matter, Lily? Remembering all the times I beat you at the game?"
With a small growl, Lilith leveled a glare at her sister and Eda was more than willing to return the gesture. Gilbert, however, got between the sisters before anything could happen, and looked at them with gentle eyes.
"Remember, this day is for the kids to relax," the kind witch reminded everyone. "How about we let the kids decide before we let our egos run wild."
The group was silent for a second, but then nodded their agreement. The adults looked down at the kids and their response was immediate; they all wanted to go play scab ball, heads nodding fiercely.
The adults couldn't help but smile at this, as the parent's took their kids by the hand and went over to the game area.
Unknown to the group was a certain Glandus witch watching them from the shadows. Bria cracked a near sadistic grin as she watched the group leave.
"Prefect, I mess with Scab ball so much I know those protective spells inside and out," the young construction witch whispered devilishly.
The Glandus student was about to head into the park, when the park's guard came up behind her.
"Miss, I know The Bonesborough Amusement Park is a scary good time, but I was told that you haven't paid for entry yet."
Bria looked over the guard and wasn't impressed; he was slightly overweight and his uniform had a coffee stain on it. With a scoff, the Glandus student turned and tried to sneak into the park.
The guard let out a tired sigh and spun a circle. Two medium-sized griffins dropped from the sky, and he pointed at the student trying to sneak into the park.
"Terra, Aqua, you know what to do."
The griffins quickly, but gently grabbed Bria by the ankles and dragged her off. Startled, the young witch tried to make a spell but was interrupted when the guard quickly placed magic-canceling mittens on her.
"Why do every Glandus student think they just sneak by me?" the guard asked dryly as he and his griffins went to the security booth to do all the usual stuff.
(Meanwhile, back to the family with the really long name)
Turns out that Scab Ball was very similar to an Earth game just with a few differences. The biggest difference was the people inside of the balls and controlled them instead of just throwing them. Also, the players could try and stop their opponents from scoring points.
Once the rules were explained for all newcomers, the park goers were separated into groups of fours. Perry had decided to set this one out, because these kinds of games weren't his thing, and that left the others to pair up. In the end, the Clawthorne sisters paired up with their daughters and the Parks paired up with their daughter and Gus.
Now, the players were just waiting for the match to begin. Luz was so excited she was once more bouncing in place and Lilith feared she would undo the strips that kept her in place.
"Sweet Flea, please settle down," she told her adoptive niece kindly but also warningly. "The game will start soon enough."
No sooner did those words leave the ex-head's mouth, did a whistle sound, and the surface of the ball became transparent. Lilith did a quick survey of the area and saw only two balls.
The former head tried to formulate a plan but Eda didn't give her the time to think; the wild witch took control of the ball, and went for the center of the ring. It was clear she was going for an early point lead, but someone else wouldn't have any of it.
A ball suddenly came from the right and lightly hit the Clawthorne family. Thanks to the protective spells in place, the witches and one human stayed centered as their ball rolled away from the center and a small jolt of pain went up their arms.
"Ow, now I remember why this game is called scab ball," Eda moaned, rubbing her arms, which was starting to form a small scab despite no open wounds.
Lilith nodded and looked at her own scabs. She had also forgotten that when balls are hit, all players involved get scabs. The ball would also move slower the larger scabs become. If the scabs got large enough, the ball would stop all together and its controller would exit the game.
"You two doing okay?" Lilith asked, once she was done with looking herself over.
Luz, despite everything, had a grin on her face, eager to continue. This brought a small smile to her witch aunt's face, and she looked at Amity. The former cursed victim looked a little weary of the scabs, and Lilith went to comfort her new daughter.
"Don't worry, my sweet raven, the scab will go away when we leave the ball," the former head told Amity warmly.
The newest Clawthorne looked at her mother with a big smile, and Lilith could see the eagerness shining in Amity's eyes. No doubt she was ready to get back to things, and this made Lilith smile.
That smile was wiped clean off when she noticed that Eda had taken control of the ball and was once again trying for a point score. She sighed and grabbed the control, to help her sister.
Eda was trying for a 20 point score, and the others saw this. The two other balls came at them nearly the same time. Eda saw this, and pulled one of her old tricks; she pulled back and the two balls hit. As a bonus, the Blight-Noceda-Clawthorne family scored five points, and the current children threw their hands up in celebration.
"What?" Eda asked, when she noticed Lilith giving her a look. "Don't tell me you forget about my own fake-out play?"
Lilith had indeed forgotten about that trick, not that it mattered, this was for the kids. She couldn't help but smile when she noticed said kids were getting ready for another round. She grabbed the controls herself, and readied to help her family score the most points.
(A few minutes later)
"How can a-half-a-dozen unstable potions not only send the emperor half-way across the isles, but through the gates of an amusement park," Hunter grumbled as walked through the gates. "AND NO ONE THOUGHT TO STOP HIM AND MADE HIM PAY LIKE ANY OTHER WITCH!?"
The park-goers around the Golden Guard and the loveable scout gave them looks, but a piercing glare from Hunter sent them on their way. Currently the coven members were looking for the emperor in the Bonesborough park, but couldn't find a trace of him. This was very frustrating for the young powerless "witch" as there weren't many in the park at the moment.
"Dude, your uncle is the emperor," Steve piped in casually, sipping on a fruit smoothie. "Do you really think someone would stop him?"
Hunter shot his subordinate a glare, but the scout was indifferent to the look. Hunter must have kept his eyes on his subordinate for a minute before letting out a tired sigh and looked around.
Like he noted before, there weren't many out today, so, in theory, looking for a near seven-foot man stripped to a throne shouldn't be that hard. And yet, he couldn't even see a single horn.
He even had even risked Flapjack being seen so there was another set of eyes, that's how frustrated he was getting.
Steven suddenly looked up and cocked an eyebrow. "Hey, do you hear that?"
With a frustrated sigh, Hunter sent another glare at Steve and a scale-model replica of the titan's skull fell between the two. Blinking, he looked over the skull and saw Steve. The loveable scout must have been startled, as he was now wearing his smoothie all over his face.
"Uhhh," Steve started to say, only to be interrupted when another model came down behind him.
Blinking, the loveable scout stiffly looked behind him, just as another skull came down on his right. He and Hunter looked at the newest skull and soon two smaller skulls landed on the larger replica. Finally, a single scoop of ice cream topped off the tower and Steve clapped with a small 'oh' sound.
"Where are those coming from?" Hunter wondered out loud.
The Golden Guard looked up and his eyes snapped when he saw something coming from the sky.
"EVERYONE, MOVE!"
Hunter's warning came at the right time, as different scale replicas of the titan's skull began to rain down. Thankfully, there weren't many attendees, so there were no accidental hits as they fled. However, Hunter did notice a familiar three-eyed witch panicking as she dolted around the raining skulls.
"Why is this happening to me again?" Boscha screamed. "I haven't even done anything in a while to deserve this!"
Hunter couldn't help but cocked eyebrow as the potion student ran by him. A second later another skull came down on her.
"Not again," Boscha moaned, but then screamed, "I'M OKAY!"
Hunter might have gone to help her if another skull didn't come down right in front of him, and heard another come down behind him. He dared to look up and gulped when he saw a bunch of skulls coming his way.
Years of training kicked in and he jumped to his right. He continued to do air spins to dodge the onslaught of skulls. At this point, it was like the skulls were singling him out, and he was quickly getting tired of this sing and dance.
Everything came to a head when he misjudged a leap and a skull clipped his foot. Off-balance, Hunter went tumbling to the ground. Thankfully, he was able to catch himself and land in a crouching position.
"ENOUGH!" he suddenly screamed and thrust his staff into the air as he jumped to his full height.
The area began blanketed in the Golden Guard's magic and the skulls became suspended in mid-movement. Hunter sent the skulls in the sky back to where they came, surprisingly, the actual head, with an angry grunt.
The grimwalker was huffing and puffing as he watched the replicas go flying to the head, and wondered who fired those things and how to make them suffer? He didn't get time to put much thought into that plan, as Steve leaned into view, looking at the sky where the skulls were flung to, and then looking at his boss.
"Just to let you know, balls with witches are coming now, and might want to stop them."
Hunter's eye began to twitch as he looked up and indeed saw the scab balls coming his way.
"Where did those come from?" he groaned angrily.
(Where in indeed…let's turn back the clock a few minutes)
The game of scab ball had passed the half-way point of the five minutes game. During that time, one of the balls had been knocked out of the game and through it, the blended family had seen that it wasn't Willow's team.
That brought a competitive smile to the "knock-down" witch's face. It was clear Amity was looking for payback, from earlier in the day. And like a true Clawthorne, was looking to pay it back.
That would be a challenge; there was just a little over a minute left and both teams were nearing their limits, it was clear the next move would be the last. But, Amity was a Blight, and now, a Clawthorne. And if there was one thing she knew about both families, they live for the challenge and thrill.
So, with a determined expression and her tongue sticking out, Amity placed her hands on the ball's controls. She was slightly surprised when another pair of hands gently landed on hers, and she looked at the big smiling face of her girlfriend.
Amity returned the smile real quick, and turned attention back to the front. Eda and Lilith smiled as they let their kids take complete control. It was do or die time as the "knocked-down" couple began to move their ball.
Suddenly, a familiar figure wearing a "I got blown across the Isles and all I got was this t-shirt" flew between them. With a scream neither team could hear, the emperor thrust up his staff and suddenly the bended family found themselves flying.
Whatever protection spells were on the scab balls were useless against the emperor's magic, as the two objects were sent flying through the air and it content rolling around like a couple of ragdolls. Thankfully, years of experience had taken over and the sisters were able to grab their daughters.
Eda and Lilith hugged their charges tight to their body as they felt gravity take hold and they felt the ball drop. Suddenly, they just stopped and the ball they were in was turned into small pieces.
The sisters could blink in confusion as they, their daughters, Willow, her dads, and Gus were all lowered safely to the ground. Dazed and still a little confused, Lilith looked around and saw what appeared to be replicas of the Titan's head at different scales, and a very angry looking Hunter.
The KDC were the first to recover from their ordeal, and Willow broke out a big smile as she saw Hunter.
"Hu-Hu," the "knocked-down" plant witch screamed joyfully.
Willow ran up to the Golden Guard and gave his leg a hug. Hunter's fury all by disappeared when he realized someone was touching him and looked down.
"Captain?" Hunter's face and tips of his ears went red when he realized who was before him. "You're…actually really cute like this."
Willow looked up at the Golden Guard with a big smile and Hunter felt his face get even warmer. Before he could act, a figure suddenly came up to them, and Hunter looked into the fury-covered eyes of one Harvey Park.
"HEllO, what's your relationship with my daughter?" the elder witch spoke hastily and with gritted teeth.
Harvey didn't allow Hunter to get a word in as he created an abomination bat and swiftly hit the Golden Guard in the face. Hunter went down with a dopey smile on his face. Willow couldn't help but level a cute glare at her father.
While all of this was happening, the Clawthorne sisters had recovered and were checking their daughters over. Say for lingering side-effects from the scab spell's premature ending, the girls were fine. Though Lilith made a note to get Luz a bandage for a cut on her left eyebrow.
Speaking of Luz…the "knocked-down" human was once again bouncing in place. Her eyes were sparkling and everyone there knew what was running through her head. Thankfully, Eda decided to be an adult…for once.
"Sorry, witchlet, but I don't think we can get back on that game for a while," Eda felt her heart ache a little when she saw her kid deflate a little but was quick to cover it up with a grin. "But don't worry. We have all day to burn and a lot of fun things to do."
Luz immediately perked back up when she remembered where she was and was bouncing in place again. The sisters giggled as they took their daughters' hands and went to collect the Parks and Gus.
"Huh," Eda cocked her head to the side as she realized something, "Why are all these titan's heads here?"
(M Corner)
I wonder if anyone ever gave a thought to where that replica that nearly crushed Boscha way back in Ghouls Break came from? Maybe this story will clear up that little writing 'trapping' of mine? Also, I would like to have your ideas or suggestions for rides and games.